With Nightfall in Middle-Earth, an album based on Tolkien's high fantasy tale The Silmarillion, Blind Guardian strikes gold. Hansi Kursch does an outstanding job of changing his voice to portray the emotions of Feanor, Melkor, Maedhros, Fingolfin and others in the collection of tales preceding The Lord of the Rings books, and the music is right with anything else they've done, making it accessible to those who aren't familiar with the tales (even though they might prefer to skip the dialogue sessions in between). Nightfall in Middle-Earth is a classic album and highly recommended if you're into this type of music.

Alligator is where The National went from being a good band to being a perfect band, and it is the perfect set-up album for Boxer. While Boxer is all about coming to grips with newly discovered adulthood, becoming distant from once-close friends and colorless work routines, Alligator reminds us of the more hopeful time of late youth before that when the whole world was on the horizon waiting to be experienced. Even so, despite the unbridled confidence of "All the Wine," the child-like ambition in "The Geese of Beverly Road" and the spontaneous adventure seeking in "City Middle," Matt Berninger's lyrics occasionally hint at a sense of doubt starting to sink in and climaxing in the remarkable closer "Mr. November." Alligator is the perfect prequel to Boxer and High Violet and an outstanding album on its own. I highly recommend it.

The Courage of Others is a step down from Midlake's sophomore album but still a welcome change of pace. Here, we hear a darker side of the band. Gone are the uptempo songs from The Trials of Van Occupanther and in their place are slower, meloncholy selections. My main problem with the album is the lack of variety as it goes on.

Frances the Mute vs. De-Loused in the Comatorium: the debate swings back and forth. I've always preferred the latter, and after a recent listen to the former, I still do. Proponents of Frances... point to how each of the five songs sound different from one another and each have their own feel. While this is true, I don't necessarily see this as a strength for the album. "L'Via L'Viaquez" in particular, despite being a great effort, seems out of place. Even within the songs, transitions seems unnatural and even a little forced. Finally, De-Loused... boasts a better and more interesting story. That being said, the excellent moments on Frances... are still excellent, and this is still outstanding.